Pahlaj Nihalani sacked as CBFC chairman, Prasoon Joshi to replace him

Pahlaj Nihalani was on Friday sacked from the post of Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification, reports said. Famous lyricist Prasoon Joshi is likely to take charge as the new chief of central film certification body.

Pahlaj Nihalani sacked as CBFC chairman, Prasoon Joshi to take over (Image: PTI)

New Delhi :

Pahlaj Nihalani was on Friday sacked from the post of Chairman of Central Board of Film Certification. Famous lyricist Prasoon Joshi to take charge as the new chief of central film certification body.

Nihalani was surrounded by many controversies during his tenure as CBFC Chairman. His colleagues in the film industry were miffed with him for his dictatorial attitude and moral policing while clearing movies from CBFC.

Pahlaj has been grabbing headlines for ordering 48 cuts in the upcoming Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bidita Bag starrer Babumoshai Bandookbaaz. The whole film fraternity opposed Pahlaj's move to order those cuts.

It is not the first time that Pahlaj had landed in controversy. Earlier, he was opposed by the entire film industry for ordering many cuts during the release of Anurag Kashyap's Udta Punjab.

Madhur Bhandarkar's "Indu Sarkar" and "Lipstick Under My Burqa" also faced ire of Pahlaj as he opposed the releases. "Indu Sarkar" was based on the Emergency whereas "Lipstick Under My Burqa" was based on female sexual desires. The Censor board said that the movie can offend Muslims in country.